CATCH OF LIFETIME LEAVES ANGLER SHAKING WITH JOY

Fly fisherman Dave Schonzeit had just caught a huge striped bass, a fish of a lifetime for any angler, from the surf at a North San Diego County beach. He had released back to the ocean what may be the biggest striped bass ever caught in the Southern California surf. Then he realized what he’d accomplished.

“My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t fish anymore,” said Schonzeit, 35, a bellman at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. “I felt like I just needed to sit down with my knees crossed, Indian style, and reflect on it. I was so amped up I couldn’t even sleep Tuesday night. I was just so fortunate to catch such a fish.”

Schonzeit didn’t measure or weigh the fish because he said it was stressed and he wanted to release it as soon as possible after taking pictures of it. He estimates that it was more than 30 pounds based on other fish like white sea bass and yellowtail that he has caught on conventional gear.

Schonzeit’s fly-fishing buddy, David Hurley, captured it all on video, and it’s as pure as any fishing sequence you’ll ever see in terms of passion, emotion, athleticism and quality angling, a battle for the ages in the surf of the Pacific Ocean.

“I don’t refer to this as my fish, my catch,” Schonzeit said. “It’s our fish. David and I have put in so much time, fished so many hours. It was a team effort all the way.”

Hurley, 35, a registered nurse and an accomplished drummer who once played for the touring band Astra, said he’s glad that he memorialized the catch on his iPhone. The video shows nearly nine minutes of the 13-minute battle. Their salty, real-life language makes it at least a PG-13-rated piece.

“It was one of those fishing days when all the planets aligned for us,” Hurley said. “I started fly fishing a little before Dave, but I made it a mission to get him into fly fishing. Once he got the bug, it was game on. We put in a lot of hours, always pushing each other.”

Schonzeit said he used his 6-weight fly rod with 12-pound tippet line and a baitfish fly he tied himself, a rig that was “totally outgunned” for such a catch, he said. The fish, rare for these waters and a possible traveler from the Bay Area or an escapee from the Colorado River delivery system, is a sight to behold on the video. It shows Schonzeit grabbing the huge striper out of the surf by its jaw and hoisting it up to show that it’s as long as his legs, a waist-high lunker.

“We put in a lot of time, but we never dreamt we’d catch a fish like this,” Schonzeit said. “To have it be a striped bass and that big was astronomical. At one point, Dave called it a ‘unicorn.’ ”

When pictures and the video hit social media, Schonzeit said, there was instant skepticism about whether a striped bass that big could be caught off San Diego. Schonzeit wants to keep his fishing beach spot a secret, naturally.

Neal Baker, who has fished with Schonzeit since they were teens, remembers when his father, Capt. Ron Baker, dropped him and Schonzeit off at the Buena Vista Lagoon on his way to running the Advance out of Oceanside Harbor for the late Dick Helgren.

“Dave is really one of the best guys I have ever met,” Neal Baker said. “The joy and luck of catching that huge striper could not have happened to a better guy.”

Peter Piconi, owner of So Cal Fly Fishing Outfitters in Liberty Station, is a local and national authority when it comes to fishing the surf on the fly. He said he regularly catches two or three stripers a year from the surf, and knows of other anglers who target them on beaches from San Diego to Los Angeles.

Nonetheless, the catch is very rare.

“I’m just happy to see those guys be there at the right place and right time to catch such a magnificent fish on the fly,” said Piconi, whose personal-best striper is 12 pounds. “And to catch it on a 6-weight rod like that, he was outgunned by serious means. That’s a fish of a lifetime, just a great fish.”